I have written about Popocatepetl, an active volcano on a previous post here.

“Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl” the volcanoes Popocatépetl (“the Smoking Mountain” on the right) and Iztaccíhuatl (“white woman” in Nahuatl, sometimes called the Mujer Dormida “sleeping woman” in Spanish, on the left) which overlook the Valley of Mexico. The princess Iztaccíhuatl and the warrior Popocatépetl.

Iztaccíhuatl’s father sent Popocatepetl to war in Oaxaca, promising him his daughter as his wife if he returned (which Iztaccíhuatl’s father presumed he would not). Iztaccíhuatl’s father told her that her lover had fallen in battle and she died of grief. When Popocatépetl returned, and discovered the death of his lover, he committed suicide by plunging a dagger through his heart. God covered them with snow and changed them into mountains. Iztac cíhuatl’s mountain was called “La Mujer Dormida, because it bears a resemblance to a woman sleeping on her back. Popocatépetl became the volcano Popocatépetl, raining fire on Earth in blind rage at the loss of his beloved.

And, this is how they look like from my home on an unusual clear day.

(These volcanos are located at a 50 kilometer distance, so they might not look as big as they are. Try looking at a previous post here.)